Home & Garden Maintenance & Repairs

What Are the Benefits of Zone Heating?

    Energy Savings

    • Heating an entire house using a furnace wastes energy by warming rooms that aren't occupied. Zone heating, as a supplement to central heating, cuts down on wasted energy by focusing heat on rooms that are in use. You can do this a number of ways, including with an electric fireplace, a heat pump or an electric baseboard heater. Lowering the temperature on one of a home's multiple thermostats accomplishes the same thing. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, zone heating can produce energy savings of more than 20 percent compared with full-home heating.

    Reliability

    • Bad weather often leads to power outages and a loss of heat, since most furnaces rely on electricity to operate. In these circumstances, some zone heating methods are a dependable heat source. Fireplaces and gas heaters, for example, don't require electricity to run. A fireplace will illuminate an otherwise dark room during a power outage, too. But keep in mind that most of the heat produced will escape through the chimney, so fireplaces are most useful as an emergency method of zone heating.

    Attractive Design

    • In the past, gas heaters were more functional than attractive, but modern gas stoves and fireplaces resemble their wood-fueled counterparts, which many people consider to be the centerpiece of a room. You won't have to sacrifice the appearance of your rooms in order to heat them more efficiently with zone heating.

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